its january and chickens have stopped laying eggs

[turkey lover]

this fall we insulated our chicken coop,,made the door smaller put a heat lamp in there coop at turns on at 5 a,m and off at 7.30 a.m then turns back on at 5.30 p,m and off again at 9.p.m i make sure they have fresh water every day and enough oyster shell as food,but with all this my chickens have stopped laying eggs i have 13 hens and one rooster,they do not free range but have a fairly good size area to roam any ideas on why they have stopped laying they get a high protein food as well please help

 

[SunkenRoadFarms]

What are their ages, are they molting? Have you checked for mites? It's likely just the shorter days. I would get the heat lamp out ASAP. Chickens don't need heat and it could be stressing your birds, which would stop production.

 

[turkey lover]

so your saying take the heat lamp out ,should i just put in a regular light then i thought they needed a heat lamp to help keep them warm it isn't a big one just a small one and only to one side of the coop so if they are cold they can get warm if not well they can move o the other side where the nest box's are

 

[SunkenRoadFarms]

Heat lamps are a major fire hazard. Most breeds are cold hardy, so they'll be fine down to negative temps. A roller coaster of temps will negatively impact their health, which having a heat lamp in is doing. Shortening day light is why affects laying, so if you want to supplement light to give them 14 hours you can with a regular bulb.

 

[turkey lover]

thank you i will take out heat lamp and do a regulate light on the same timer,5.0
0 a.m to 7.30.am and then at 5.30 pm to 9 pm off all night

 

[blucoondawg]

I don't believe a heat lamp is going to stress birds nor do I think they're overly dangerous providing they're mounted properly but the fluctuating temps you have from the light going off and on could cause stress. If i were to provide heat I would leave the heat on costantly providing it didn't get really warm, I would try for just over freezing while still having ventilation. That said I don't really feel the birds need heat mine regularly deal with extreme sub zero temps. I would mainly heat to maintain a decent rate of lay and prevent eggs and water from freezing.
Currently my coop isn't insulated and I have a low watt daylight spectrum bulb to help with laying. What temps do you have in your area.